Inbetweeners Series 1, Episode3

Thorpe Park

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxYX_IvRFzU&oref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fresults%3Fsearch_query%3Dinbetweeners%2Bseries%2B1%2Bepisode%2B3%26oq%3Dinbetweeners%2Bseries%2B1%2B%26aq%3D3%26aqi%3Dg10%26aql%3D%26gs_sm%3De%26gs_upl%3D80l14386l0l18283l23l15l2l6l8l1l2368l4915l0.1.3.1.7-1.0.1l7l0&has_verified=1

What is postmodernism? Postmodernism is a philosophical

movement, which involves the belief that apparent realities are only social constructs, as they are subject to change. Postmodernism has influenced many different cultural fields, such as religion, literary, sociology, linguistics, architecture, anthropology, visual arts and music.

What is the Inbetweeners? Bwark Productions Created & Written by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris Aired between May 2008 and 2010 On E4 & Channel 4 Stars Simon Bird (Will), Joe Thomas (Simon), James Buckely (Jay),

Blake Harrison (Niel) British sitcom following the life of suburban teenager Will, and three

of his friends at the fictional Rudge Park Comprehensive

When first shown, the pilot episode attracted an audience of 238,000; the series as a whole averaged 459,000 viewers. Series Two, Episode One attracted 958,000 and the series averaged just over a million.

The situation is set around four male A-Level students attending a local comprehensive school; however, the focal point of the comedy comes from Will, who joins the school, when his wealthy parents divorce and his mum can’t afford private school fees.

This situation is ordinary enough. It happens to lots of people, starting a new school and making friends with an existing friendship group.

Postmodern Points Firstly, in some respects it parodies previous school-based texts such as

Grange Hill (1978-2008) in that it sets the drama/action around characters at school, but makes those characters all the things the Grange Hill characters weren’t. They swear (frequently), they constantly talk about sex and bodily functions, and appear naked in several episodes. None of which would ever have happened in Grange Hill, which was much more wholesome and moral, as appropriate for its young adult audience. It uses bricolage, as it mixes comedy, drama, romance, realistic issues and slapstick. A scene where Will is thrown in a lake in his underpants by the mechanics at the garage where he is doing work experience, is pure slapstick. The love Simon has for Carli is quite touching and romantic. The representation of Jay’s father as an absolute monster, never missing an opportunity to humiliate him, is quite realistic: it provides a psychological reason as to why Jay is such a liar, as a result of a huge inferiority complex. Neil has an almost surreal spin on life. And the Head of Sixth Form Mr Gilbert is a sadist. All of which creates a rich bricolage or layering of meaning.

Series One, Episode Three, ‘Thorpe Park’, parodies the conventional sleazy male driving instructor, turning it on its head: Simon is the object of the female instructor’s desire.

Any episode (for example, ‘Will’s Birthday’ )reveals numerous intertextual references, such as posters in the common room for ‘Run DMC’ and ‘NWA’. The boys discuss porn on the internet, and use Live Messenger. There are other references to Russell Brand, Take That and Supersize Me, all of which, like bricolage, create layers of meaning. They are there to be read by the audience if they get the reference, but it does not matter if they do not see or hear them. The reference to Supersize Me makes the joke funnier if you know what they are talking about, but is still funny, even if you do not.

Audience/ Representation The first series began with a pilot episode, which gained 238,000 viewers. The series as a whole

averaged with 495,000 viewers, and 474,000 views watched the finale.

The Inbetweeners received two nominations at the British comedy awards – (Best New British Television comedy (Scriped) and Simon Bird was nominated for Best comedy newcomer). The show won both of these awards.

At the British Academy Television awards 2009, it was nominated for the ‘Best Situation Comedy’, but lost out to ‘The IT Crowd’, however won the audience award at the British Academy Television awards in 2010.

The first episode of series two, which aired on E4 at 10pm on the 2nd April averaged at 958,000 viewers, which is substantially more than those of series 1. Another 234,000 viewers watched it at 11pm on E4+1, which means overall 1.2million viewers watch the episode – the highest audience of 2009 for E4.

Joe McNally, writing for The Independent, commends an "exquisitely accurate dialogue, capturing the feel of adolescence perfectly"

Will Dean of The Guardian comments that the show "captures the pathetic sixth-form male experience quite splendidly".

The series is often contrasted with E4's successful teen drama, Skins. Critics have said that "The Inbetweeners' portrayal of dull suburbia is closer [than Skins] to the drab teen years most of us spent, rather than the decadent time we wished we spent."

Episode one of series three aired on 13 September 2010 on UK digital terrestrial network E4, attracting a record breaking overnight average audience of 2.6m viewers (12.5% audience share) in its 10 pm slot, the highest ever viewing figure for a show screened on the channel until 2011 when Glee beat the record.

Ratings Series 1 Series 2

Series 3 We Can see that not only has the number of viewer for each episode increased, but also the ratings has also risen as the series has progressed. Series one started off rated #10 and by series 3 this had risen all the way up to #1.

Overview of the episode Simon is about to take his driving test, but does not feel confident that

he will pass, whereas Will, Jay and Neil are over-optimistically discussing the possibilities of one of their group owning a fully-fledged driver's licence. Before Simon even takes his test they have already decided to go to Thorpe Park - where Neil works.

Despite Simon's poor driving abilities, he is able to pass his test, because his female examiner has a crush on him. His dad then buys him a small yellow Fiat Cinquecento Hawaii, much to his dislike and embarrassment. Simon then goes to collect Will and Jay to take them to Thorpe Park.

After the journey - which includes "stalking" a car full of girls and interfering in a funeral procession - the boys finally arrive at Thorpe Park; although things do not go to plan there either. Jay detaches the passenger side door when he impatiently opens the door whilst Simon is still driving, and Will finally gets to the front of the queue for Nemesis Inferno, only to find there is only space for him and not his friends at the front. He insults whoever has pushed in, before sitting down next to them to see they are from the "Happy Foundation", a charity for people with Down Syndrome. After the ride they return to the car which has been vandalised by the Happy Foundation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlAGKo2w3Lw&list=SL&feature=sh_e_se&oref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fshow%3Fp%3DRquKEiY4K3k%26tracker%3Dshow0&has_verified=1

(4.43 – 8.32)

Why is the episode postmodern? Postmodernism can be insulting and

therefore, when Will insults the 3 disabled boys from ‘the happy foundation’ who are sat in the front row he had waited extra time for as ‘inconsiderate arseholes’, could be described as a postmodern trait.

Similar to when Simon who has just passed his driving test interrupts a funeral possession, which is insulting

Theory Baudrillard would describe the episode as

simulation of real life, Simon passes his driving test, through the sheer luck that the driving instructor has crush on him. This would never happen in real life.